So I need to drill a 5/8" hole in some 2" tubing for a hitch pin. I was planning on just using the drill press (not the Bridgeport), but is there anything I need to be aware of or watch out for? Are there even drill bits that large in the Machine shop? I recall bits up to a 1/2" but don’t know that I’ve seen any larger than that.
I haven’t looked in the red toolbox for step drill bits but that could work. I guess that means I would have to drill one side, flip, and drill the other… which has me worried about alignment for a snug fitting pin.
You could make a jig out of a couple of pieces of wood with the smallest of the stepped drill bit pre-drilled to align things consistently - even if hand-drilling.
I was up at the MakerSpace last night and tried to find the step bits. I was able to find a 1/2" one in the red toolbox, which got my hopes up as … where there’s one there is more, but unfortunately I was not able to find any of his friends. Am I just blind? I looked everywhere I could think of in the machine shop as well, but had no luck. I’d be happy to buy a set to leave at the MakerSpace, but I may need some direction as I’m sure I don’t know enough to buy the good ones. It’s also very possible I’m just overlooking something as it seems doubtful that no one has ever drilled a hole bigger than a 1/2" at the space.
Get one of these https://www.harryepstein.com/index.php/5-8-high-speed-drill-bit.html
I bought a set of Silver and Deming bits (1/2" shank, 9/16"-1" drill size) at Northern tool 5ish years ago for a trailer hitch project and I’m not happy with them, they have a wobble like they are not ground right. But the cheap bits will cut a hole good enough for a hitch pin. I’ve also used unibits but found the step wasn’t quite tall enough to get through the tubing so I had to drill partway and file it to size.